The Commandant's Shadow is a 2024 documentary film directed and produced by Daniela Völker. The film focuses on the story of Jurgen Höss, the son of Auschwitz concentration camp director Rudolf Höss, and his boyhood home life in the villa adjacent to it. The film also stars Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, an Auschwitz survivor who meets face-to-face with Jurgen Höss decades later. The Commandant's Shadow drew media comparisons to the 2023 film The Zone of Interest, a dramatization similarly focusing on the Höss family's life adjacent to Auschwitz.[1]
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| Directed by | Daniela Völker |
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Running time | 103 minutes |
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| Language | English |
Snowstorm, Creators Inc., and New Mandate Films produced the movie.[2] HBO Documentary Films and Warner Bros. Pictures acquired distribution rights in April 2024 with Fathom Events partnering to give the film a limited release in the United States on May 29 and 30, 2024.[3]
Reception
editOn the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 88% of 8 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.5/10.[4] The film earned a score of 76 on critical aggregator website Metacritic, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[5]
Nick Schager of The Daily Beast called the film "an overpowering work of excavation and confrontation—as well as a timely and urgent warning about the continuing threat of antisemitism."[1] Leslie Combemale of the Alliance of Women Film Journalists wrote that "this documentary has such a powerful hold, it's hard to shake even days later."[6]
See also
edit- 2 or 3 Things I Know About Him, 2005 German documentary by Malte Ludin about his family's view of his father, wartime German ambassador to Slovakia executed for war crimes there in 1947
- Hitler's Children, 2011 Israeli documentary about second and third generations in the families of prominent Nazis, including Höss.
References
edit- ^ a b Schager, Nick (May 29, 2024). "The Traumatic True Story Behind 'The Zone of Interest'". The Daily Beast. Retrieved May 29, 2024.
- ^ Billington, Alex (May 6, 2024). "Holocaust Doc 'The Commandant's Shadow' Trailer About Rudolf Höss". First Showing. Retrieved May 29, 2024.
- ^ Staff (April 26, 2024). "Warner Bros. Pictures And HBO Acquire Doc 'The Commandant's Shadow'; Fathom Events To Partner With Warner Bros. For Theatrical Screenings". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved May 29, 2024.
- ^ "The Commandant's Shadow". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved May 30, 2024.
- ^ "The Commandant's Shadow critics' reviews". metacritic.com. July 12, 2024. Retrieved September 25, 2024.
- ^ Combemale, Leslie (May 20, 2024). "The Commandant's Shadow – Review by Leslie Combemale". AWFJ.com. Retrieved May 30, 2024.
